From the opening ceremony featuring dancing French presses to the figure skating drama to the curling gold medal match, the Milan Cortina Olympics have captured our imagination.

Those who follow winter sports are getting to see their favorite athletes on the biggest stage. The rest of us? Well, we get to discover and rediscover luge, mountaineering and speedskating.

As people around the world watch sports they rarely think about, they suddenly become expert judges while pondering if they, too, could sweep a curling rock.

In Maryland, there are fewer opportunities to indulge in these sports than in Colorado or Minnesota — as evidenced by how many fewer winter Olympians the state produces than summer Olympians.

But, if you’re feeling the Olympic spirit and want to try your hand at some of these sports, here’s where you can find them.

Bobsleigh/skeleton/luge

Team USA is coming to Columbia on May 30 to recruit. The website says it finds athletes across different sports and provides information on how to be considered.

If you’ve never tried the sports and aren’t ready to be considered for the national team, you should try a “taxi ride” first. New sliders can go down the track with an experienced pilot and brake person to give “the full experience of what the Olympic athletes feel without any of the responsibility.”

Blue Mountain Resort in the Poconos is also offering an opportunity to meet members of the U.S. luge team and to go down a track during the winter fest Feb. 21-22.

Eagles Mere in Pennsylvania offers a toboggan slide. Or you can try sledding down the iced-over hill in your neighborhood and use your imagination.

Curling

If you, like Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy and many of his teammates, think you have elite sweeping skills, curling may be for you. And it’s a lot more accessible than bobsledding.

About an hour out of the city, Potomac Curling Club has events for newcomers. On Feb. 21 it will hold a curling open house, and it provides three-hour introductory training sessions throughout the year. If you feel like your time has passed but you’d like to get your kids on a path to Olympic greatness, the club has a team called the Middle Rockers for children ages 5-12.

Chesapeake Curling Club offers both Learn to Curl events, which require a ticket, and open house events, which don’t require registration. The Learn to Curl event includes lessons on how to deliver the stone, how to sweep the stone and how to strategize, followed by a mini game. It, too, has a juniors program, but the club emphasizes that curling is for people of all ages.

Hockey

There are ways to get involved in hockey in the region.

To simply start watching hockey live, you can check out the Baltimore Banners. Or, once the Olympic break is over, drive to D.C. to watch the Washington Capitals. For a less expensive ticket, you can also check out the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

If you have experience and want to play, there are adult hockey leagues in Reisterstown and Laurel.

For younger players, Piney Orchard Ice Arena has a junior hockey team, the Maryland Black Bears. The Baltimore Youth Hockey Club offers classes and clinics at Reisterstown Sportsplex and Mt. Pleasant Ice Arena. The rink in Patterson Park has been permanently closed by the city.

The Capitals hold events for all levels of hockey, including street hockey tournaments if getting on the ice is too big a step.

Skating

The Baltimore Figure Skating Club, which operates out of the Mt. Pleasant Arena, offers skating lessons for beginners. The next series listed on its site runs from March 9-April 20. There are lessons for kids 4 and up, along with adult classes. Once you complete the basic skills curriculum, your skating career can go from there.

Other spots in the area include the Columbia Ice Rink, the Glen Burnie Outdoor Rink that is open until the end of February, the Piney Orchard Ice Arena, Ice World in Abingdon and The Gardens Ice House in Laurel. The Mimi DiPietro Skating Center in Patterson Park will also offer lessons every day except Monday and Wednesday through the rest of the season before it closes.

Skiing and snowboarding

There are many Olympic events for which skiing is the base. Luckily, there are plenty of ski resorts in driving distance where you can learn the fundamentals, if not how to flip.

Liberty Mountain Resort near Fairfield, Pennsylvania, is one of the closest. It does not have complex runs, but it offers a chance to learn the basics of skiing and snowboarding.

Blue Knob in Claysburg, Pennsylvania, has offerings for beginners and more advanced skiers and snowboarders with 34 trails.

If you want to learn to ski, snowboard and ice skate, Canaan Valley Resort in West Virginia offers many winter activities.

For people who have the basics down, Massanutten Resort in Virginia has parks with rails and jumps for freestyle skiers and snowboarders.